Kolkata East West Metro- Wings to the city of joy

Kolkata Metropolitan Region is the focal point of majority of economic, social and industrial activities of West Bengal with huge population density. Kolkata being a 300 years old city with narrow right of way, the road volume is only 6% and rail based mass transport system is based suited for this city. The first metro project in the country was commissioned in Kolkata in 1984 in North-South direction and an MRTS system in east-west direction connecting city of Kolkata with neighboring  city of Howrah via a trans-river connection crossing river Hooghly was also conceived as a vital transportation link.

The East-West Metro was sanctioned by Government of India in year 2008 from Salt Lake Sector-V in the east to Howrah Maidan in the west. This is being implemented by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited which is a CPSE under Ministry of Railways.

The corridor length is 16.55 Km which will connect the mammoth sub-urban railway terminals at Howrah and Sealdah and it will pass through the central business district of Kolkata as well as the IT Hub at Salt Lake. This corridor will have passenger interchange with existing North-South Metro as well as upcoming Esplanade-Joka Metro at Esplanade. It is expected that in year 2035, about 1 million passengers will use this Metro every day.

This Metro will be operated on standard gauge [ 1435 mm] tracks and powering system will be 750V DC Third rail.

5.8 Km of the corridor is elevated viaduct with 6 numbers of elevated stations &10.8 Km of the corridor is underground with twin tunnels of 5.8 m internal diameter and the stations are being constructed by cut & cover method.

Each 6 coach trainsets are provided with modern features of failsafe protocols during operations. The capacity of each trainset is 2068 passengers and provided with air-conditioning in all coaches. Article contributed by: Biswanath Dewanjee, General Manager (Civil).